Report: White House Seeks to Free Elderly Felons in Coronavirus Crisis

The White House Legislative Affairs Office is reportedly asking Congress to pass legislation that would provide an early release to thousands of felons 60 years old and older in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump told the media that his administration was reviewing a plan to free elderly felons deemed “nonviolent” from federal prison to try to prevent a spread of the Chinese coronavirus in prison.

“We have been asked about that and we’re going to take a look at it,” Trump said. “It’s a bit of a problem, but when we talk about totally nonviolent, we’re talking about releasing totally nonviolent prisoners, we are actually looking at that, yes.”

White House / YouTube

The plan, lobbied for by the George Soros-funded American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), has the potential of releasing about 10,000 elderly felons from federal prisons over fears that they could contract the coronavirus while incarcerated.

These felons are considered “nonviolent,” though violent criminals often plead down to nonviolent crimes to shorten their prison sentences. Federal data released in 2018 revealed that more than 97 percent of federal convicts had taken plea deals rather than going to trial for all the crimes they had been charged with in their criminal cases.

Conservative Review’s Daniel Horowitz reports having obtained a letter that the White House Legislative Affairs Office sent to a number of Republican Senators, asking that they immediately pass H.R. 4018 to give early release to thousands of elderly felons:

On Saturday, the White House office of legislative affairs sent a message to Senate staff requesting they pass H.R. 4018, a bill to grant federal prisoners over the age of 60 early release, “as soon as possible.” In case you thought the convoluted logic of using the coronavirus crisis to push the jailbreak agenda was limited to big-city liberal politicians in Baltimore and California, this memo made clear there are those in the White House pushing it. [Emphasis added]

“Older inmates are at a unique risk to be affected by the Coronavirus,” read the email from the White House legislative affairs office, which I obtained from a Republican Senate office. “A congressional fix to allow older inmates to be placed in home confinement can help reduce the risk of community spread in a crowded environment.” [Emphasis added]

Already, major areas like Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; and Cleveland, Ohio, have started releasing hundreds of inmates from local and state prisons — steps their law enforcement officials said are necessary to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, police officers have been advised to stop imprisoning criminals accused of “nonviolent” crimes. This list of crimes includes burglary, auto theft, vandalism, prostitution, and theft.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment in time for this publication.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.